


Tropical Takedown

by Admiral6



Category: G.I. Joe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 12:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13146516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Admiral6/pseuds/Admiral6
Summary: Falcon heads up an infiltration team targeting Cobra sleeper agents, but could lose more than he bargained for when Jinx ends up in danger.





	Tropical Takedown

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a Yuletide gift but I defaulted on it. A friend convinced me to finish and post it anyway, so here ya go.
> 
> Anyway, it's the first story I actually completed for this site, so that's something.

The Orbac Paradise Resort Hotel was only three years old, making it the newest resort to dot the landscape of Waikiki Beach, but it had become one of the most competitive tourist spots in Hawaii in that time, offering great rates, four-star service and great ocean views.

 

The couple who’d just walked into the lobby this afternoon could tell how opulent the place was as soon as they crossed the threshhold. The interior was well-lit and richly-designed, with gold trim everywhere, as if the architects were trying to recreate the gold room of the Russian Palace. The people walking about looked rich as well, some the types to wear gold chokers and anklets with their bikinis.

 

The husband decided they’d fit right in here. He was tall, broad-shouldered and movie star handsome, with a square jaw and short, dark hair. His wife was model-slim, drop-dead gorgeous and sporting short, auburn hair of her own. They were both sporting classic Hawaiian shirts and white denim shorts, hers styled to show off every inch of her shapely legs. The man had his powerful arm around the woman’s waist, and he projected an air of assured authority while she regarded him with love and adoration.

 

The couple walked up to the reservation counter and flashed a megawatt smile at the young blonde woman manning it. “Hey there, darlin’!” The man said. “Me and the little lady are set to get our little honeymoon started, if ya know what I mean...right, Ally Baby?”

 

His companion, presumably Ally, just giggled and lightly swatted the man’s chest. “Oh, Vinny! You’re such a caution!”

 

The reservation clerk simply smiled and put the conversation out of her mind. She’d heard all kinds of nonsense since she started working here. “Of course,” she said, “if you could just tell me the name on the reservation?”

 

“Vincent and Allison Falcone!” The man said, as if he were announcing royalty.

 

The clerk checked her computer, and said a moment later, “I just need your ID and credit card.” Vincent handed over his credit card and driver’s license. The clerk did some more checking, then handed them back. “Okay, you’re all set!” She found a keycard and turned that over. “Suite 2233, overlooking the beach. And your luggage?”

 

Vincent jerked a thumb over his shoulder at a bellhop pushing a luggage cart behind them. “Right here!”

 

The woman nodded to the bellhop and said “2233.” She turned back to Vincent and offered one last smile. “Enjoy your stay.”

  
  
  
  


In the room, Mr. Falcone tipped the bellhop a ten-spot while Mrs. Falcone gushed over the room, and she continued to gush until the young worker left and Mr. Falcone closed the door. Then they both went silent.

 

Mrs. Falcone went over to the luggage cart and found her make-up bag. She lifted out the tray full of cosmetics that covered the hidden compartment. Inside was a small electronic device with a display. She took it out and turned it on, then proceeded to run it along every corner, every windowframe, every door jamb, every lamp and so on in the suite. When she had searched as thoroughly as possible and the little device didn’t react to anything, she came back into the sitting room with Mr. Falcone and said out loud: “We’re clear.”

 

And now that they could talk freely, Flint said in Lt. Falcon’s ear, “She hates being called ‘Ally,’ y’know…”

 

Falcon - “Mr. Falcone” - put his hands on his hips and said, “Come on, Flint! I was just trying to sell the whole ‘ugly American’ thing! She knows that! Right, Lady Jaye?”

 

Lady Jaye - “Mrs. Falcone” - said, “He’s right. I don’t like being called ‘Ally.’”

 

“Everybody in the unit knows that, you big ham,” Jinx piped up in his ear.

 

“Oh, brother,” Falcon said with an eyeroll. “Look, doesn’t it make sense that two people that have been together for a long time would have nicknames for each other?”

 

Now Lady Jaye crossed her arms and stared Falcon down. “I’ve got a few names I’d like to call you,” she said. “And by the way: if you ever call me ‘the little lady’ again I’ll shove my little foot up your little backside!”

 

Falcon sighed. “It’s gonna be a long mission.”

 

“Then let’s get what we need as soon as we can,” Flint said, “and then we can be done with it. Now, focus.

 

“We suspect that Orbac Hotels and Resorts corporation was formed by the acquisition of several hotels that were forced out of business by foul play, and the players and buyers are subsidiaries of Extensive Enterprises…”

 

“...which is owned by Tomax and Xamot,” Lady Jaye said, “Cobra’s biggest financial backers and the leaders of the Crimson Guard. It’s likely that the profits from the new hotel chain are going into Cobra’s treasury…”

 

“...but what we really want to know,” Falcon said, “is if the snakes are also using the hotels as bases for quartering Cobra troops on American soil. We got it, Flint! We’re here to play newlyweds so we can take a discreet look around and find some clues to Cobra’s involvement.”

 

“And that’s all, Falcon. Get the info we need and we’ll get you out.”

 

“Right,” Jinx said. “You’re not actually on vacation.”

 

“We could call it a working vacation,” Falcon said. “Who says we can’t get nice and tan while we look for snakes in the surf?”

 

“Priorities, Falcon. Flint out.”

 

Falcon waited for Flint to click off, then said to Lady Jaye, “Well, just so it won’t be total loss, what say we try to make the best of the situation, say drinks on the cabana? We can use the time to discuss the sleeping arrangements…” He smiled and cocked an eyebrow.

 

Lady Jaye looked around the sitting room. “The couch looks real comfortable. You should be just fine on it while I take the bed. Discussion over.” With that she took her bags into the bedroom and slammed the door.

 

Falcon shook his head. “A  _ really _ long mission…” He muttered.

 

* * *

  
  
  


“Did we have to send them in as husband-and-wife?” Jinx asked Flint in the command van.

 

“Are you jealous?” Flint asked with a smirk.

 

“Are you?” Jinx asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

Flint just answered her first question. “Lady Jaye has more infiltration experience than all of us combined, and Falcon is a relatively new Joe and probably not prominent in Cobra’s files yet. They’re the best team for the inside job, and husband and wife is the most useful cover. So, yeah, we had to send them in as husband and wife.”

 

“I’m just worried about Lady Jaye. I can’t imagine having to put up with him in such close quarters for more than a day, much less three.”

 

“Well, we’ll be just a shout away in case Falcon does something that makes Jaye wanna run him through.”

 

“Yeah, but should we really save him or just write up a good excuse for the report?”

 

Flint chuckled. “We’ll figure that out when the time comes. For now, you should rest up.”

 

“Right.” Falcon and Lady Jaye were the overt faces of the covert op. Jinx would wait till dark and conduct the more secret insertion.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Darkness fell, and Jinx went into action, suiting up and sneaking onto the resort grounds. Late as it was, half the hotel was lit up, with guests still partying in rooms and the bars and restaurants that serviced the place. Jinx decided to make her infiltration by breaking in through a stairwell exit. When she was in the stairwell, she went down. She wasn’t interested in the activities in the upper floors. She wanted to see how far down she could get.

 

The first basement and subbasement were pretty standard. They held storage rooms, the laundry room and other such spaces. The next one down held the machinery of the hotel, generator, water boiler and so on.

 

The next level down was odd, because it was empty save for some portable construction equipment and tools. The space looked as if it were being remodeled, but into what Jinx couldn’t guess.

 

The next level Jinx hit paydirt, in a fashion. She couldn’t get in through the stairwell entrance because instead of a standard lock on the door there was an electronic keypad, so picking it wasn’t an option. She reported such to Duke, who’d taken over the night shift in the control van. “If there’s anything snaky on the premises,” she concluded, “it’s probably in here.”

 

“You’re probably right,” Duke said. “Back off and regroup. We’ll figure out how to get into it in the morning. Maybe we can bust in while Falcon and Jaye cause a distraction.”

 

“Roger. Coming out.” Jinx departed the hotel the way she got in, moving quietly back up the stairs and out the emergency exit.

 

And after she’d gone, the air near the keypad shimmered and swirled and changed color until it solidified into the form of Zartan. He looked up the stairs with a wicked smile on his face…

 

* * *

  
  
  


Joe headquarters for the operation was a nearby rented warehouse. The next morning Flint, Duke and Jinx gathered together to contact Mainframe back at the Pit. After Jinx explained what she had seen, Mainframe thought about it and said, “I have some equipment that might be able to beat the lock. Anybody can use it. Jinx would just have to get back to that door and attach it to the lock.”

 

“How soon can you get it out to us?” Duke asked.

 

“Depends on whether you want it covert or overt. I could get on a military plane with it right now if you think it’s worth the risk, but if you want it covert I need to go commercial, which will trigger a whole bunch of security questions if I have the device with me.”

 

“Better go the commercial route,” Duke told him. “We can make a few calls to smooth things over with TSA and the airlines, but we’ve got to maintain cover here.”

 

“While we’re waiting,” Flint said, “We’ll just have to see what Falcon and Lady Jaye can turn up on their own.”

 

“Let’s just hope Falcon keeps his head in the game…” Duke mused.

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


At that moment, Falcon was examining himself in the full-length mirror in the bedroom. He was wearing colorful swim trunks, sandals and an even more outlandish Hawaiian shirt than he had on when he entered the hotel. The shirt was open so he could examine his chest and six-pack. “Yeah...that’s the ticket…” He said to his reflection with a cocky smile.

 

Lady Jaye sighed when she saw him. “Would you and your reflection like to be alone?” She asked.

 

Falcon turned at the sound of her voice and his jaw dropped. Lady Jaye was standing by the bedroom door wearing a nude colored string bikini and a floral sarong.

 

Falcon recovered his “cool” as quickly as possible. With the cocky grin back on his face, he said, “Now why would I want to waste my charm on a mirror when I could grant you the pleasure of my company?” He sauntered over and offered her his hand.

 

Jaye ignored the hand and crossed her arms. “‘Pleasure’ isn’t necessarily the word I would use. Don’t let the outfit fool you.  It’s just to blend in with the holiday seekers. We need to keep our eyes open looking for Cobra.”

 

“Right, right,” Falcon said, “but you can’t blame a guy for seeing that get-up and thinking about more enjoyable activities…”

 

“No,” she said with a grin, “but I can beat you senseless with my javelin if you don’t keep your ‘thoughts’ to yourself. So, now that that’s settled...are you ready to head out?”

 

“As I’ll ever be,”  Falcon said.

 

They went to the front door together and linked arms as Falcon opened it, and moments later they were back into their happy couple role as they went to spend the day taking advantage of the resort’s amenities as they discreetly examined the staff and the guests.

  
  


* * *

  
  


That afternoon, Mainframe arrived at the warehouse in civilian clothes carrying an ordinary looking brief case. He found Duke and Jinx waiting for him. “You’re all set,” he told them. “The device is small and easy to use.”

 

They gathered at a work table and Mainframe drew it out. It looked like an old portable radio with a credit card attached to it. “Just run the card through the slide and hit this button,” he told Jinx. “The readout here will show the combination for the lock. It will take a few seconds to work, maybe ten at the most.”

 

Jinx took the device and looked it over. “Seems simple enough,” she said. “Now we just have to decide when to try it.”

 

Duke thought about it. “Let’s give Jaye and Falcon another day to see what they can find out on their own, then you can have another go at it tonight…”

 

* * *

  
  
  


Jaye and Falcon spent the morning on the resort grounds. There was plenty for them to do. They had breakfast at an expensive French restaurant, then severely dented their covert expense account buying things in the fancy shops that rented space in the main building. They even sprung for a couples’ massage. It was Falcon’s idea, secretly gleeful at the idea of being in the same room with Lady Jaye when they were both wearing nothing but towels. Jaye secretly planned to smack him upside the head for it in the room later.

 

After lunch at a four-star Italian restaurant, the “Falcones” made their way to the resort’s olympic sized pool and found seats under a colorful umbrella on the cabana. When Falcon went to get drinks, Jaye contemplated what they had seen today.  _ If any of the staff is Cobra they’re pulling off Oscar-worthy performances.  _ There hadn’t been any slip-ups, any hints, any outward sign that the people who’d served them today had been anything but what they’d presented themselves as.

 

Falcon soon returned with a Pina Colada for Lady Jaye and a tall glass full of dark liquid for himself. As he got into the beach chair next to hers, she asked, “Is that a Long island Iced Tea?”

 

“As a matter of fact, it is,” Falcon said. “I’ve never had one of these before, so I thought I might try one.”

 

Jaye rolled her eyes. “You realize that’s like the alcoholic version of The Nuclear Option, don’t you?”

 

“Don’t worry,” he said with a cocky smile, “I’m just gonna nurse it.”

 

“Famous last words,” Jaye muttered, then she said, “So what do you think of the staff?”

 

“Pleasant and helpful,” he said with a shrug, “but whether or not they’re Cobra is anybody’s guess. After we’ve worked on our tans we should try to sneak into one of the off-limits areas and find out what we can…”

 

Suddenly Flint was in his ear. “Leave that to Jinx, Falcon. She’s going in again tonight. You just stick to the accessable areas and try to find any overt clues.”

 

“I’m just offering to help. It’s a big hotel after all.”

 

Lady Jaye smiled. “I’m gonna tell Jinx you think she’s too small to handle the job by herself.”

 

Falcon panicked slightly. “That’s not what I said! I just meant…!”

 

“OH, MY GOD!”

 

The voice saying that drew Jaye and Falcon’s attention to a pretty woman in a bikini running towards them. A moment later she was past them and heading to the poolhouse entrance. She was followed by several more bikini clad beauties alternately shouting things like “I can’t believe they’re here!” and “They’re so handsome!”

 

“Well, what’s got them all excited?” Falcon wondered aloud as he and Jaye tracked the fangirls to whoever they wanted to see.

 

Jaye suddenly blanched. “Oh, no!”

 

They were just emerging from the poolhouse surrounded by an entourage of yes-men. They were dressed in white summer suits and carrying their suit jackets leisurely over their shoulders. They were both handsome and fit, with rugged good looks and expertly styled black hair.

 

They also looked exactly alike, the only difference being the scar on the left side of one man’s face.

 

“Tomax and Xamot??” Falcon said with raised eyebrows.

 

“Darling,” Jaye said, trying to stay in character, “I think I’d like to go in and lie down.”

 

“Are you sure?” Falcon said, turning to her.

 

Jaye lowered her voice. “We need to get out of sight before either of them notices me.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Later, in the room, Lady Jaye paced as she reported the near-contact to Flint. “With the Crimson Twins roaming around the hotel,” Flint said, “your side of the mission is going to be ten times harder.”

 

“I don’t see how,” Falcon said. “We know they own the place, and it’s not like CEOs of companies never pull surprise inspections.”

 

“It’s about our cover,” Jaye said. “We came in without any disguising make-up. Without it, there’s no way I’d be able to bluff my way past them if we encountered them.”

 

“Why would you stand out to either of them?”

 

“It was before your time,” Flint said.

 

“Last year I got stuck in a situation where Tomax and I had to work together to survive,” Jaye said, frowning at the memory. “He’s going to know who I am as soon as he sees me.”

 

“And if Tomax recognizes her,” Flint said, “so will Xamot because of that weird twin ESP of theirs.”

 

“So what are we supposed to do?” Falcon said.

 

“Lay low in your room for the rest of the day. The Falcones will check out early tomorrow morning.”

 

“You’re pulling us out?”

 

“Absolutely! I’d like you to walk out right now, but I don’t want you to chance running into the twins on the way down to the lobby or something. Let them conclude their business, get some rest and hope you’re clear to exfiltrate tomorrow. Flint out.”

 

“Well, that’s just great!” Falcon said as he pulled his communicator from his ear. “We’re bugging out before we accomplish the mission!”

 

“Better that while our cover’s intact than to have it blown while we’re in the middle of it,” Lady Jaye said. “We’ll just have to let Jinx take the lead in the investigation.”

 

“Oh, even better…” Falcon grumped. “She ends up getting the goods first.”

 

“It’s not a competition. Whoever gets the goods, it’s a win for us.”

 

* * *

  
  
  


Nighttime fell and Jinx got to work. She went straight down to the locked subbasement as soon as she was in the stairwell. She found the keypad again and used Mainframe’s device on it. She was up to seven mississippis when the device gave her the access code.

 

Jinx entered the code...then leapt.

 

The door slid open. Out walked a Cobra Crimson Guardsmen in full uniform and carrying a Cobra assault weapon. He stepped over the threshhold, looked left and right, up the stairs, down the stairs, back to left and right. He stood for a moment, confused, then turned to go back through the door.

 

That was when Jinx literally fell on him from her impossible perch at the top of the doorframe. While on top of him she hit him so hard that even his helmet couldn’t protect him from the impact. He was out like a light.

 

Jinx swiped his keycard and ducked into the now open door. She hit a button on the key pad on this side to close the door. When it slid shut, she realized she was in some sort of airlock. There was another door and key pad at the other end of the small space. Jinx went over to that door and used the swiped card and entered the code. Then she leapt up again.

 

Another Crimson Guard came to check. This time he didn’t go past the doorjamb. He simply looked out and called, “What’d you find, Fifty-three?” When he saw no one was there: “Fifty-three?”

 

Jinx swung down and donkey-kicked him back into the room, then twisted and landed inside the door so she could finally see the place for herself. It looked like some sort of Combat Information Center, with giant screens and computer terminals and lighting set to preserve night-vision.

 

And it was manned by Tele-Vipers and secured by Crimson Guards. _ Lots _ of Tele-Vipers and Crimson Guards.

 

Jinx sprang into action, taking down Cobras with Judo moves and karate strikes in an effort to do as much damage as possible before somebody could aim a weapon. As she struck she called out, “Jinx to base! Jinx to base! The sub-level is lousy with Cobras! Repeat: The sub-level…!”

 

She stopped when two painful blows struck her back and head. She went down hard, unconscious before she hit the deck.

 

As the Cobras she attacked picked themselves up, Zartan dropped his camouflage and stood over Jinx, rubbing the hand he’d used to knock her out.

 

“Well, gentlemen,” he said, “it looks like we’ve overstayed our welcome. We’d better let management know…”

 

* * *

  
  
  


Falcon was in the middle of a really fantastic dream when he felt someone shaking and smacking him awake. It took a few seconds for his conscious mind to realize who it was. “Come on, loverboy!” Lady Jaye was saying. “Wake up!”

 

“What the blazes…?” Falcon groaned. “Do you have any idea how awesome the dream was that you just interrupted?”

 

“Tweet about it later. Right now you need to get off your duff. We’ve got a mission!”

 

Falcon shook his head, trying to clear it. His eyes were still half shut, but he finally noticed that Lady Jaye was wearing her regular fatigues and had her spear quiver strapped on.

 

Still: “What mission? We’re supposed to be bugging out tomorrow!”

 

“Falcon...Jinx has been taken.”

 

That made Falcon’s eyes snap open. “Wha…? Whaddya mean?  _ Who _ took Jinx?”

 

“We don’t know for sure, but I can guess.”

 

“How’d they get her?”

 

“She went back to check out that locked subbasement she found last night. Duke was in the van waiting for a progress report, but the only communication he got was a garbled message, as if it was being jammed. Then there was nothing, and there’s been nothing for the past hour.”

 

A million horrible possibilities flashed through Falcon’s mind before he found his voice again. “We have to go find her!”

 

“No kidding, loverboy! That’s why I interrupted your precious dream. We have to see if we can track her down while Duke and the others make their way here so we can set up a rescue.”

 

“Oh…” He needed another second to process it, then he jumped up and grabbed the case with his gear in it and raced to the bathroom.

 

Five minutes later he was dressed in his fatigues and geared up, his shotgun held at the ready as he headed for the door. “Let’s see that subbasement for ourselves,” he said as Jaye fell in step with him.

 

“Just what I was thinking,” Jaye said as she drew a javelin and set it up. She beat Falcon to the front door by a step so she reached out and opened it…

 

...to find Tomax and Xamot standing in the hallway in their full Cobra gear and with pistols drawn to cover the doorway. “Going somewhere?” The twins said in unison.

 

“As a matter of fact,” Falcon said as he leveled his gun at Xamot, “We were thinking of taking a tour of the resort!”

 

“We were hoping to find a secret rendezvous spot,” Lady Jaye said coyly as she pointed her javelin at Tomax.

 

“Well,” Tomax said, “so sorry to ruin your romantic moment…”

 

“But it’s time for you to put your weapons down…” Xamot said.

 

“...and check out,  _ permanently _ .” They said as one.

 

“Overconfidence is still a problem with you, isn’t it?” Jaye said to Tomax.

 

“Seems to me that our odds are even here,” Falcon said with a smirk.

 

“That’s because you don’t have all the information,” Tomax said with a smirk of his own. He raised a hand and snapped his fingers, and suddenly the hall was filled with people in various modes of dress brandishing pistols, including two of the fangirls that the Joes had seen fawning over the twins earlier.

 

Falcon and Jaye went wide-eyed. “Let me guess,” Jaye said. “Everybody in the hotel is a Cobra?”

 

“Precisely!” Tomax said.

 

“Everyone in the hotel…” Xamot said.

 

“...except you two!” The twins said.

 

Falcon and Jaye looked at each other, then back at the twins. “Right…” Falcon said, then he slammed the door and grabbed Lady Jaye as he ran to the terrace. He went down and took Jaye with him just seconds before a hail of laser blasts blew through the door and front wall.

 

“What are you doing?” Lady Jaye yelled.

 

Falcon pointed toward the terrace doors - the glass ones that several blasts had just destroyed - and said, “That’s our way out, sister!”

 

“Are you crazy???”

 

“Hey you can stay and try to talk your friend down!”

 

Jaye shook her head. “I know I’m gonna regret this…!”

 

They stayed low and made their way out to the terrace. Falcon drew a bead on the supports securing the terrace to the wall. He also put his arm around Jaye’s waist. “Ready?”

 

“Hell no!” Jaye said.

 

Falcon blasted the supports and the terrace tilted and went down, carrying a screaming Lady Jaye and Falcon with it. Surprisingly, Jaye had the presence of mind to set up a grappling javelin and shoot the hook into the base of the terrace door frame. She managed to stop their fall just seconds before it would be fatal, groaning as Falcon’s grip on her waist tightened before he hit the ground.

 

Standing on the ground, Jaye rubbed her stomach and glared at Falcon. “‘Let’s go out the terrace’ he says…!” She growled through her teeth.

 

Falcon shrugged and smirked. “Hey, we got out of the room, didn’t we?”

 

Lady Jaye’s response was interrupted by another hail of laser blasts that forced them to run for cover behind the poolhouse. When they looked back they could see the blasts were coming from every window in the resort facing the pool. The fire shifted to keep them pinned down there.

 

“We gotta get to the garage and steal some transportation!” Falcon said.

 

“Wait!,” Jaye said. “Duke’s gotta be coming for us!”

 

“Oh, yeah? Have you heard anything from him since he told you about Jinx?”

 

“No, but -” Then it hit her. “You think they got him, too?”

 

“If they jammed Jinx’s comms, they could also track them back to the control van!”

 

“In that case, let’s give these jokers in the hotel something else to shoot at!” She prepped another javelin and threw it in a high arc toward the resort’s parking garage. As it flew it sprayed out a thick cloud of smoke that obscured the area around the poolhouse. Falcon and Lady Jaye ran out behind the cloud cover, heading toward the parking garage.

 

They reached the garage a few minutes later, just in time to see a convoy of three Stinger jeeps speeding out of the exit. The occupants were obscured in the darkness, but they could see someone struggling in the back of the second Cobra jeep.

 

“Jaye, I think that’s Jinx in that Stinger!” Falcon said.

 

“We’ll never catch them!” Jaye said.

 

Just then a panel van riddled with bullet holes came screaming up to them and screeched to a halt, then the passenger side door opened. It was Duke in the driver’s seat. “You just gonna stand there?” He yelled out at the others.

 

“We thought they’d got you too!” Falcon said.

 

“They almost did!” Duke said. “I’ve been dodging a Trubble Bubble for the past ten minutes! Speaking of…!” Duke slammed the door closed behind Lady Jaye and peeled out just as a Trubble Bubble strafed the vehicle.

 

“We need some air support!” Falcon said, just as a laser blast coming through the roof missed him by centimeters.

 

“Already on the way!” Duke called out.

 

* * *

  
  
  


The Tele-Viper piloting the Trubble Bubble cursed as the panel van he was chasing kept moving after his last strafing run. It was time to take the gloves off. He fell back off the van’s tail and got ready to use one of his missiles in air-to-ground mode.

 

He was a half-second away from squeezing the trigger before he saw a flash of light to his right. It was the last thing he saw before the air-to-air missile heading for him impacted.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Scratch one Trubble Bubble!” Mainframe called over the radio as the Skyhawk he was flying took position over the panel van.

 

“Nice one, Mainframe!” Duke said. “Now we’ve got a convoy of snakes in jeeps about a minute ahead of us on the road!”

 

“We think Jinx is in the middle jeep!” Falcon called out.

 

“Hear that, ‘Frame?”

 

“Roger that, Duke!” Mainframe said. “I’m going to pull ahead and shine a light on them for Flint!”

 

The Skyhawk accelerated and flew ahead until it caught up to the Stinger convoy, falling into position over the trailing jeep…

 

* * *

  
  
  


“Keep that prisoner in line!” Zartan called from the shotgun seat to the two Crimson Guards in the back. They were flanking Jinx, who even tied at the hands and feet and gagged was doing her best to beat the snot out of her captors.

 

Zartan was about to lambaste the guards again when a blinding light enveloped the vehicle, one so bright it caused his skin to turn blue. “Ahhgh! What’s that light?”

 

“There’s a G.I.*Joe Skyhawk shadowing the column!” The driver said.

 

* * *

  
  
  


Keeping the bright spotlight on the middle Stinger, Mainframe used the Skyhawk’s guns to strafe the lead jeep and force it off the road, then he fell back and did the same with the trailing jeep. Then he got on the radio. “Coming right at you, Flint! A Stinger full of snakes! Be advised: the snakes have Jinx and our other pals are right behind them!”

 

* * *

  
  
  


“Gotcha, Mainframe!” Flint radioed back. He was driving the A.W.E Striker, and he already had the vehicle’s big recoilless rifle targeted on the Cobras. The problem was that a direct hit might also take out Jinx as well. He had to time and aim the shot so that he would force the Stinger off the road and give the Joes a chance to surround it.

 

He watched the readout on his display like a hawk as the distance between the Joe and Cobra vehicles decreased. He was also doing math in his head - and praying, though he’d never admit that. He counted the seconds until the right moment, but before he could fire the Stinger’s missiles were all launched in his direction. He had to bob and weave as the weapons exploded on the road around him. He recovered as quickly as he could, getting the vehicle straightened out and drawing a bead with the rifle. “Firing!”

 

The big weapon fired a beam that impacted on the road just in front of the Stinger’s foward axle. The explosion sent the vehicle airborne and it inverted before it came back down and rolled several times before coming to rest back on its wheels. The Skyhawk hovered over the jeep and kept the spotlight on it while the other Joes sped to converge on it.

 

* * *

  
  
  


Zartan shook off the disorientation from the rolling and managed to crawl out of the vehicle. The Skyhawk’s spotlight followed him for a few steps as he tried to put some distance between himself and the Stinger, but then it went back to lighting up the other Cobras. He took the opportunity to camoflage himself again.

 

* * *

  
  
  


The Joes closed on the Stinger on foot, Falcon in the lead with his weapon at the ready. “All right, Snakes!” He called out as the Crimson Guards emerged. Rattled from the crash, they complied easily.  While the men subdued the Cobras, Lady Jaye pulled Jinx from the jeep and untied her.

 

“You okay?” Jaye asked.

 

“I think so,” Jinx said as she shook off her disorientation. Then she spotted Falcon and charged over to him. “Hey, you big jerk!! Was it your brilliant idea to flip the Cobras’ truck with me still in it?”

 

Falcon’s expression turned euphoric when he saw Jinx, then he schooled it into a cocky smirk. “Well, no, but I think it worked like a charm!”

 

“Worked? I’ll show you ‘worked’, you big doofus!” Jinx punched him in the shoulder...then she put her arms around his waist and hugged tight, then Falcon hugged her right back.

 

“I guess we can call this mission a success,” Flint said as he and the others looked on.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The next day, back at G.I.*Joe headquarters, Jinx was doing maintenance on a Tomahawk when Falcon approached her. “Well, isn’t this romantic?” He asked her.

 

Jinx rolled her eyes. “How can you call this romantic?”

 

He shrugged. “Don’t you remember? This is where we first met!”

 

Jinx grunted and swatted him in the stomach. “Very funny, but I got work to do, so…”

 

“I just came to tell you the latest intel. The resort we crashed just issued a public statement that they were shutting down due to technical difficulties, so that’s one less nest of Cobras we have to deal with later.”

 

“Well, that’s great, but…”

 

Suddenly Falcon’s face turned serious. “I also wanted to say...well...I’m glad we got you outta there...because...well, when I heard you’d been taken I was….” he struggled for the word.

 

Jinx grinned. “You were worried? About little old me? And why is that, hotshot?”

 

“Well…” Falcon blushed a little. “Because...you know what I mean…!”

 

“Let’s pretend I don’t know so you have a reason to tell me straight.”

 

Now Falcon was beet red. “Okay, well...yeah, I’ll tell ya...it’s just that…”

 

Suddenly Dialtone ran into the repair bay. “Hey, Falcon! Been looking all over for you! You got another mission!”

 

Falcon nodded in acknowledgement, then turned to Jinx and flashed another cocky smile. “Sorry, babe! Duty calls!”

 

Jinx smirked. “You mean ‘saved by the bell,’ but we’re not done having this conversation.”

 

Falcon winked. “Looking forward to it!” Then he trotted off.

 

Jinx shook her head as she watcjhed him leave. _ I’ll get you to say it yet, Hotshot _ , she thought.

  
  
  
  


ENDE


End file.
